Benedict XVI Creates Council for New Evangelization

Will Be Dedicated to Secularized Christian Countries

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- To ward off secularization in nations where the Gospel put down roots centuries ago, Benedict XVI is creating a new pontifical council.The Pope announced the newest Vatican dicastery today, as he was celebrating vespers for Tuesday's feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

This council -- dedicated to a "renewed evangelization" -- will be the 12th of the Roman Curia. There are also nine congregations.

"Man of the third millennium also desires an authentic and full life, he has need of truth, of profound liberty, of gratuitous love," the Holy Father said before announcing the new organization. "Also in the deserts of the secularized world, man's soul thirsts for God, for the living God."

The Pontiff cited his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in affirming that the mission Christ entrusted to the Church is still far from completion, and that it requires strong commitment.

"There are regions in the world that still wait for a first evangelization; others that received it but need more profound work; others still in which the Gospel put down roots a long time ago, giving place to a true Christian tradition, but where in the last centuries -- with complex dynamics -- the process of secularization has produced a grave crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and of belonging to the Church," Benedict XVI observed.

And he announced: "In this perspective, I have decided to create a new organism, in the form of pontifical council, with the specific task of promoting a renewed evangelization in countries where the first proclamation of the faith already resounded, and where Churches are present of ancient foundation, but which are going through a progressive secularization of society and a sort of 'eclipse of the sense of God,' which constitutes a challenge to find the appropriate means to propose again the perennial truth of the Gospel of Christ."

The Holy Father did not announce who will be the president of the new dicastery.

What happened at those places instead was the modernists decided that Catholic colleges should become more secular. Instead of making the society more Catholic and Christian, the reverse happened to those colleges. Ironic.

I think those research centers maybe were objectively and quantitatively studying the decline. With the “research” in the name, it doesn’t sound like the mission was to train leaders to go out and do something to reverse it. That would be the seminary’s job, perhaps? (Or if there is some analogous place for lay people to learn how to win souls for Christ.)

I think those research centers maybe were objectively and quantitatively studying the decline. With the “research” in the name, it doesn’t sound like the mission was to train leaders to go out and do something to reverse it. That would be the seminary’s job, perhaps? (Or if there is some analogous place for lay people to learn how to win souls for Christ.)

Agreed. In fact, the day Catholic grade schools started to die out in my county was when the principals made the conscious choice to start doing things more similarly to the public school system.

Over time, you had teachers there who were not teaching in Catholic schools out of love and sacrifice, you had teachers who aren’t Catholic or don’t practice their faith, and you had the dumbing down of moral instruction and discernment. The administrative leadership was very poor and parents are viewed as enemies. Secular views are a big part of the demise. The sex scandals are another.

It took 15 years to kill a Catholic school that had flourished in my town for 75 years. In short succession, two other Catholic grade schools have closed. With the very poor state of public education in my state, these schools should have been doing fine; but they stopped offering what made them unique: a very solid education in a moral, Christian environment.

10
posted on 06/29/2010 8:19:34 AM PDT
by Melian
( God is even kinder than you think. ~St. Teresa)

I was expecting that. It was partly ironic. But...The "Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate" was supposed to supply the Jesuit order with data deemed useful for more effective application of their mission to spread the Catholic faith and Catholic truth. Of course, this had been edited and reduced somewhat, limited to modernism and social justice. The "Problem of God" courses (originally) were supposed to assess the predicament of modern atheism and secularism.

"It took 15 years to kill a Catholic school that had flourished in my town for 75 years. In short succession, two other Catholic grade schools have closed. With the very poor state of public education in my state, these schools should have been doing fine; but they stopped offering what made them unique: a very solid education in a moral, Christian environment." 10 posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 11:19:34 AM by Melian

Bingo. And that's very sad. The diocese here just shut down about dozen, including three high schools in the last year. In one case what was at issue was around a $650K deficit (which is ridiculous because there should have been that much in the parish just in terms of the vacation homes and country club memberships of many families but they just let it die).

It does matter whether teachers are believing Catholics. And it's sacrilege wherever they throw that away for no good reason. It will happen again. We will be reading about an older Catholic school with a distinguished history which will be closed by a modernist bishop who allowed fruitcakes to impersonate priests all over his diocese, maintaining resort vacation homes while the parish and school were wreckovated and died. When will it stop?

The Pope apparently spoke out and rebuked Schönborn for breaching protocol by criticizing a Cardinal over the handling of the sex abuse cases. But why was he silent when Notre Dame honored a pro-abortionist with a doctoral degree??? (surely a more serious sin)

My kids’ school suffers from the fact that many of the active parents - particularly the big donors - are not Catholic and dislike what they consider excessive sectarianism. They talk about emphasizing “values” (a word that has no meaning without a modifier), in order to attract more enrollment from the community. My passionate expressions of support for specifically Catholic emphasis in the school’s programs are considered... extreme.

Money talks, and the school cannot survive without the billionaires.

15
posted on 06/29/2010 11:18:02 AM PDT
by karnage
(Obama is nothing more than a soundbite-emitting hologram)

I have a friend who took her kid out of a protestant school where they were downplaying Jesus, to broaden enrollment of rich, liberal people. (I think Bill Clinton attended the 8th grade graduation one year). The principal thought my friend was extreme in wanting a more explicitly Christian education. Then she and four other families took their kids out at the same time. Suddenly, the principal wanted to discuss their concerns. She gave the principal her frank assessment of things, and moved her kid to a more religious school.

Yes, it does. Had the schools continued to offer the successful tried-and-true solid academic and moral teaching they were known for, they would probably have survived. Also, when the nuns started having “careers” instead of living for the school, they had to start paying more teachers.

Why would a parent pay for a secular education when you can get it for free? The only reason to pay tuition is if a school is offering something completely different— and effective.

20
posted on 06/29/2010 10:54:19 PM PDT
by Melian
( God is even kinder than you think. ~St. Teresa)

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